EarlySense, developer and marketer of a hospital bed monitoring device, has developed a chair to perform the same task, and the product has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for marketing in the US.
EarlySense is an Israeli company with operations in Israel and the US. The products it markets today, sensors for hospital beds, are products for patients in situations between intensive care, where patients are connected to many different monitoring devices, and regular hospital beds, which are not connected to any monitoring system at all. EarlySense’s system is placed underneath a standard mattress, and senses changes in pressure caused by the patient in the bed. The system alerts hospital staff in the case of a sudden deterioration in the patient’s condition, or if a patient falls out of the bed. The product is cheaper than ICU systems, and does not require that the patient be connected to machines. The system is sold for millions of dollars each year to hospitals and nursing homes in the US.
The company is currently seeking to bring this ability to hospital and nursing home chairs as well. Patients who do not require intensive care are generally not required to lie in bed all day, rather the opposite. It is better that they get out of bed, walk around, and sit, in order to improve lung function, and prevent emboli and the like. A chair that could monitor their conditions, particularly one that could do so without requiring that they be connected to any machines, could encourage patients to leave the safety of their beds.
According to the company, the chair can monitor the patient’s heart rate, respiration, and activity level. In a trial conducted at a hospital with which the company works, it was found that it is effective in preventing some cases of patient deterioration and falls.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 3, 2014
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